Nathan

The following is a summarised version, from a patient who after 4 failed IVF cycles elsewhere was referred to Newlife.

After much soul searching we decided to give it one more shot: our fifth and final attempt at IVF. In our minds we had always had five as the number of attempts we would try, mainly because it was generally perceived that after five attempts the chances of conceiving are very small.

However, because we were so mentally and physically exhausted by this stage, numbers almost didn’t really come into it any more. Although we were gearing up for this fifth and potentially final attempt, we were so beaten down by and used to disappointment that our hearts weren’t really in it.

We were then referred to Mr. Gafar at New Life Clinic who, during our initial appointment, recommended that before embarking on our fifth cycle, (which we were now going to carry out completely with New Life) I could try taking the drug Humira, which we were told could help us conceive naturally and that some people fall pregnant naturally by just taking it without the need for IVF!

It was thought that in our situation, it could help calm down NK cell activity and prevent embryos from being attacked that were trying to implant.

In my mind I was thinking this is the kind of luck that happens to other people, not to us, and sure enough, my blood tests showed that it had in fact increased my Cytokine levels even further! Although we were told this was common on first taking it, it still just left us feeling disheartened… how much more could we take? However, on New Life’s advice, we decided to give the Humira one last shot before our IVF cycle… why not…

I will always remember that morning. I’d been feeling a little different… my period was a couple of days late, and I was used to a lot of spotting before any bleeding which hadn’t yet happened. However at this point this still meant very little in terms of getting our hopes up. I decided to take a pregnancy test.. it was a Sunday, I didn’t tell my husband what I was doing, after all, I had taken countless tests before, what was so different this time? So used to seeing a negative result and why get his hopes up? So when those two blue lines appeared, to say I couldn’t believe my eyes is an understatement! A few seconds went by when only I knew, only I could see what was happening. After sharing the news with him, we were both in absolute shock and I remember us just sitting on the bed bewildered, just staring at the positive test in disbelief!

After some further treatment at New Life Clinic to help us hold on to the pregnancy, I am delighted to be writing this with our dear little son lying sound asleep next to me. It seems that the Humira had appeared to completely ‘re-set’ my system, enabling my body to allow a naturally conceived embryo to implant.

To think that after all these years we didn’t even need IVF treatment in order to conceive. We have finally realized our dream of becoming biological parents. I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for the help of Mr. Gafar and New Life Clinic we wouldn’t be blessed with our little miracle, and for this we will always be deeply grateful.